A rchive Date
[ 23-01-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.N ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/01/22/14355-ap.html
Blix: Iraq's rules on spy planes are unacceptable
By PETER JAMES SPIELMANN - Associated Press
Wed, January 22, 2003
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix criticized Iraq on Wednesday for blocking the United Nations from using the U-2 spy plane to search for Baghdad's terror weapons, by placing unacceptable limits on its flights.
"They are not denying it, or rejecting it, but they are putting up conditions that would be unacceptable and stronger than they were in the past," he said, without elaborating.
Blix was on the way into his offices at U.N. headquarters, where reporters questioned him.
U-2 flights were a mainstay of the first hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, from 1991-1998. American pilots flew them, but the ultra-long-winged jet plane - used by the United States for reconnaissance since the 1950s - was repainted in U.N. colors and covered flight paths ordered by U.N. inspectors.
The United States has offered UNMOVIC, the current U.N. inspection agency, the use of the craft for the inspections that resumed in November after a four-year absence. But the Iraqi government thus far has resisted allowing U-2 overflights at a time when the U.S. military is massing troops near Iraq's border for a possible attack.
On Monday, Blix and top nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei are to report to submit a key report to the Security Council on Iraq's cooperation in reporting and demolishing its chemical, biological, nuclear and long-range weapons.
Blix said Iraqi officials have been "prompt in opening practically all the sites we wanted to come to," but "there are other things that are less satisfactory, particularly when it comes to interviews."
Iraqi officials promised Blix and ElBaradei earlier this week to encourage its weapons scientists to speak privately with inspectors - something scientists have refused so far.
"We'll see if that happens," Blix said. U.N. officials hope the scientists will be more candid without Iraqi liaison officers listening to the interviews.
Blix urged Iraq to "really make an effort in all respects," saying, "If you do not have that kind of cooperation than it can drag out."
With U.S. troops, aircraft carriers and warplanes headed to the Persian Gulf to be on station for an attack on Iraq, Blix was asked if he was trying to help avert war.
"We as well as governments, including the United States government, see inspection as a peaceful avenue for disarmament. The United States has thrown its weight behind that. I have no doubt their preference is for a peaceful solution," he said.
Bush administration official have in recent days spoken of their preference for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to flee into exile, and have said they would consider offering an amnesty for war crimes committed by senior Iraqi officials.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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